Sam Neill, who played paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, died Monday in Sydney at age 78. His family announced the death; The Associated Press reported it was sudden and unexpected. Neill was cancer-free when he died, and the family did not disclose a cause.
Neill's Alan Grant enters the 1993 film at a dusty Montana dig and ends up protecting Lex and Tim through a failed dinosaur park. The role tied the New Zealand actor to one of Universal's most durable theme-park franchises.
Sam Neill's Jurassic Park Legacy
Neill returned as Grant in Jurassic Park III in 2001 and Jurassic World Dominion in 2022. The latter reunited him with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum nearly three decades after the original film.
Universal later built rides and lands around the movie's gates, electric fences, jeeps and dinosaurs. Neill's wary, practical Dr. Grant remains part of the story visitors step into at Jurassic Park attractions around the world.
His screen career also included The Hunt for Red October, The Piano, Peaky Blinders and the television series Merlin.
Sources: The Associated Press and Amblin Entertainment.
Update: Cillian Murphy, Colin Trevorrow, Richard E. Grant, Toni Collette and other friends and colleagues shared tributes later Monday. Trevorrow, who directed Neill in Jurassic World Dominion, remembered him as a friend and collaborator with a calm presence. Universal Orlando also saluted Neill for the heart he brought to Dr. Alan Grant.